'Phantom of the Opera' star Sarah Brightman to travel to space

David Ng

Sarah Brightman, the original Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera," is training to become a space tourist and is planning to travel to the International Space Station in 2015. The British singer made the announcement Wednesday at a news conference in Moscow.

Brightman said that she has begun training with the Russians to prepare for her 10-day voyage. The singer will travel to the station on a Soyuz spacecraft.

At the news conference, which has been posted to YouTube as well as the singer's official website, Brightman plugged her "Dreamchaser" world tour, which is expected to end in 2013.

The singer is expected to start intensive cosmonaut training following the completion of her world tour. Her new album "Dreamchaser" is expected to be released in January.

Brightman, 52, will join a short but notable list of space tourists who have paid big bucks to travel aboard the space station. The list includes Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte and video-game entrepreneur Richard Garriott. The cost associated with becoming a space tourist is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

The singer's voyage is being organized by Space Adventures, a company that provides space tourism trips.

Brightman rose to fame in the original London and Broadway productions of "The Phantom of the Opera." The singer was once married to the show's composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber.